The Hillsdale College men's track team had a busy weekend with two home meets in two days, hosting both the Wide-Track Invitational with a small group of teams on Friday, and the Wide-Track Classic with a larger field of Midwest schools on Saturday.
Hillsdale found success on both days, with eight event victories and big performances across both meets.
Friday -- Wide-Track Invitational
The Chargers had a great day on the track in Friday's Wide-Track Invite, winning five of their six event titles on the day in running events.
Senior Mark Miller pulled off a dramatic victory in the mile run, beating out his competition by 0.03 seconds to win in 4:22.92, and lead Hillsdale in an event where the Chargers had five of the top six finishers.
Hillsdale also looked strong in the 400m dash, as sophomore Benu Meintjes and freshman Jamahl Burke both ran the event for the first time this season. Meintjes edged out Burke for the victory, winning in 50.12, the fifth fastest time in the G-MAC this season. Burke was close behind in 50.63.
In the 800m run, sophomore Sean Hoeft won a close race in a season PR of 1:57.68, while freshman Sean Fagan also got a victory for Hillsdale in the 60m hurdles, winning in 8.46, also a season best for him. Hoeft also teamed with Ross Kuhn, Jack Shelley and Preston Fagerlin to win the 4x400m relay (3:35.84) for the Chargers, while freshman Oliver Samuelsson recorded a runner-up finish in 22.58.
In the field, junior Ben Raffin cleared 4.78 meters to win the pole vault for the Chargers, sophomore Joshua Nichols took second in the long jump with a distance of 6.27 meters, and freshman Jesse Westmeyer took second in the weight throw (15.51 meters).
Saturday -- Wide-Track Classic
Hillsdale returned to the track on Saturday with a much bigger field of competition in the Wide-Track Classic, bringing home two event titles.
For the second straight day, the Chargers won the 4x400m relay. This time, Hillsdale's top team of Maliq Brock, Ian Calvert, Meintjes and Burke won in 3:25.08, beating out a much larger field than Friday to bring home the victory. Also on the track, Fagan ran another season best to finish runner-up in the 60m hurdles in 8.43, Samuelsson added another runner-up finish in the 200m dash (22.60) and sophomore Isaac Waffle ran a new personal best in the 3,000m run (8:56.22) to take fourth in a crowded race.
In the field, Nichols won the triple jump title with a new personal best of 13.95 meters, and Raffin cleared a new season-best in the pole vault of 4.92 meters to take second place. Raffin's new mark is another NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark and the 14th best in the country in DII so far.
Also in the field for Hillsdale, freshman Charlie Andrews took second in the high jump with a clearance of 1.95 meters, and Westmeyer took runner-up in the weight throw for the second straight day with a distance of 15.24 meters.
After three straight weekends at home, Hillsdale will hit the road next weekend, splitting its squad to compete at Notre Dame, Akron and Ashland in a variety of Friday and Saturday meets as the Chargers look to continue to build towards the G-MAC Championships at the end of February.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan